We’ve just had a public holiday in the UK and, in consequence, a long weekend but I wanted to add a few thoughts to Jeffrey’s post last Friday about Chris Ford’s resignation.
Being the US representative at NPT meetings is a pretty thankless task, but Dr Ford did it very well. What made him a bit different was his willingness to debate and discuss the “D word”. This speech, In Praise of Complexity: Some Thoughts on Disarmament Ethics in the Real World, is a good example of his style. You don’t often see this level of thoughtfulness from a government official from anywhere.
He is also one of the funnier diplomats out there. I saw him close-up at a workshop earlier this year. His speech focused on the issue of withdrawal from the NPT and his opening went something along the lines of “In January 2003, when North Korea suspended the suspension of its withdrawal, as it were…”